Everlasting Love
by nejiandtentenfan
Summary: Love lasts forever, and this is shown between Neji and Tenten in this story. I hope you like it. It's my first time attempting to write a long story with several chapters! Please enjoy! [NejiTen]
1. It's Unfair

**A/N: OK! After a full night of just writing super short NejiTens last night, I've decided it's much more exciting to write more than one chapter Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!)**

Chapter 1

Haruno Sakura was in the forest, busy looking for her forhead protector Ino threw into the forest. "Stupid Ino Pig," Sakura muttered to herself. Ino and Sakura had been training and while Sakura wasn't looking, Ino thought it'd be fun to snatch her forehead protector from her head. Suddenly realizing what Ino had done, Sakura ran at Ino angrily, shouting, "Ino!!! Give that back!!!" Ino happily ran into the forest and hid it deep into the forest, and that is how Sakura was in the mess she was in now.

"Agh, it's getting dark, if I don't find it soon, I'll be in tro-" but Sakura quickly stopped what she was saying. She hid behind a bush. She was watching two people, a girl and a boy her age sitting next to eachother by the stream that flowed through Konoha.

_Who are these people?_ Sakura wondered. When Sakura leaned in for a closer look, Sakura realized, _NO WAY! IT'S NEJI AND TENTEN!! Wait until everyone hears about this!!_

It was indeed Neji and Tenten. Sakura couldn't recognize them at first because Tenten's hair was down instead of in the two buns she was used to seeing. She tried to listen hard to their conversation.

"Tenten-" Neji's voice whispered "As much as I want this relationship to go on, it can't. You know I'm from the Hyuuga clan, and…" Neji's voice trailed off.

"I know," Tenten whispered, her voice, full of pain, "I know that you can't have a relationship with an average girl like me."

They both stared into the sparkling water, not daring to look at the other. Their hands were laced together, their bodies close.

"Tenten-" Neji said softly.

"Hn?"

Neji turned toward her and they gazed into eachothers' eyes for a long time. Neji pulled his hand away from hers and put both arms around her waist. Tenten followed this by embracing him and their lips met. The moment their lips met, they knew they needed eachother. They knew they couldn't live without eachother. They kissed with enough passion to make the cherry blossoms bloom. They stopped when they finally ran out of breath. They returned to their previous position and Tenten rested her head on his shoulder.

"Neji, it's getting late. I should go now before my parents get suspicious. They don't want me to be in a relationship that might cause them troubles. And I don't want our clans to fight so…"

Neji just nodded his head and they both stood up. They kissed one last time before the night was over, Neji's arms around her, Tenten's hands on his chest. Their lips separated, and they departed after saying goodbye to eachother, both going opposite paths.

Sakura was frozen behind that bush she was hiding behind. What she had just witnessed blew her away. She felt like screaming to Neji and Tenten, _Wait! It doesn't have to be this way!! Just talk to the Hokage or something and everything will be alright!!! _But Sakura herself knew things were not this simple. Traditions between clans varied, but they were strict rules you should follow in order to not bring shame to your family name.

Sakura slowly stood up to leave herself.

_Pop! Pop!_ Her knees made small popping sounds as she got up. _Have I really been crouching here for that long?_ Her legs ached immensely. She couldn't wait to go home and take a hot bath.

But Sakura couldn't stop thinking about Neji and Tenten.

Emotions spun inside Sakura's head as she walked back to her house. _This is none of your business Sakura, just forget everything you saw._

Sakura chuckled a little at her own thoughts. _How am I supposed to forget everything I just saw?_ _I won't forget…I'll just not tell anyone! Yes, no one else needs to know. But…should I reveal to Tenten tomorrow that I was listening in on their private time?_

At first Sakura thought that would be a good idea, but she had second thoughts after remembering how Tenten almost never missed her target when throwing a kunai or a shuriken. _Would Tenten get mad at me if I told her?_

Sakura realized that she didn't have time to think about all this now. It was already late as it was, and if she didn't hurry up, her parents would ground her for life. Sakura ran along the path to her home and decided to think about it when taking her bath before going to bed.

Meanwhile, Tenten was walking to her house. _It's not fair! Why does Neji have all those Hyuuga clan traditions he has to follow! I mean, it's not like I'm not good enough for Nej-_ Tenten suddenly stopped in her tracks.

_Neji can only be in a relationship with high-class women. Therefore, he can't have a relationship with me because I'm only average. So that means that I'm not good enough for him?_ A pang of sadness struck her whole body.

Her breathing became uneven, sobbing between breaths. _So, all these years of hard training to try to impress Neji were useless? I can never be good enough for him just because I was born into an average family._

Tenten couldn't bear the thought of her falling short of Neji's standards of happiness. _No that's not true, _Tenten told herself. _Neji loves me, it's just that his clan traditions are to marry a woman from a higher cla-_ Tenten started to cry harder.

Tenten realized that Neji and herself were one day going to get married and start their own separate families. Neji's wife was not going to be Tenten. Neji's son or daughter was not going to be born through Tenten.

These thoughts of Neji's future relationships scared her. _Neji's mine, _thought Tenten greedily. _How could another woman understand Neji the way I do? I've been on Neji's team since the first day at the Konoha Academy._

Tenten's head throbbed with pain from all the thinking and crying she was doing. Tenten quickly tied up her hair into two twin buns and ran as fast as she could to her house. Her parents asked her if she wanted dinner, but she said no and ran into her room.

Her parents didn't know what was wrong. They just assumed that she failed a mission and was depressed about it. It never occurred to them that her team member and her were in a deep relationship that could never work out.

Tenten locked herself in her room, quickly got into her pajamas, stuffed herself into her cold bed, and cried into her pillow for about an hour. _Neji! Why can't I be yours? Why can't I spend the rest of my life with you?_

Tenten cried herself to sleep, half sad, half furious, but fully in extreme mental pain. She was sad that their relationship could never be, and she was furious that the Hyuuga clan even had that stupid tradition in the first place.

Meanwhile, Neji was in his own bed, thinking about the same things. _I'm going to get married to someone other than Tenten? But I love her, and her alone._ He couldn't bare to think about spending his whole life without Tenten, but with another girl.

Sakura, Tenten, and Neji were all somehow painfully trying to get to sleep, not expecting the events of tomorrow.


	2. Bird Country

**A/N: Woohoo Chapter 2! I feel a lot better about this new story, my other stories were horrible. Thanks a bunch Yugao for giving me constructive advice! You were a great help! Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!) **

Chapter 2

When Tenten woke up that morning, her eyes were swollen from crying the whole night and her hair was tangled because she forgot to take out the buns in her hair and slept with them. She stepped out of bed, took a shower, and freshened up.

She looked at herself in the mirror. _Agh, I must've gotten like three hours of sleep. _She was so tired. She got dressed in a white top and dark blue capris. She put her hair back up into two neat buns. She felt better.

"TENTEN!" her mother called from downstairs.

"WHAT?!" yelled Tenten from inside her room.

"YOU HAVE A VISITOR AT THE DOOR!"

Tenten froze. _Is it Neji? Did Neji come to visit me? What does he want?_ Tenten walked to the front door but hesitated. _Should I open it? What if Neji's there? What should I say?_ Tenten took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

"Oh, Sakura, Sasuke, hi!" Tenten said, relieved. "What's up?"

"Hi Tenten! Tsunade-sama called us down to her office. She told us to get you and Neji. It's probably a mission or something," Sakura said trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

Tenten's face dropped slightly, "Oh. Neji. Right. Hold on, I'll be right out."

Tenten closed the door on Sakura to put her shoes on. While she was trying to find her shoes, she thought, _I have to go on a mission with Neji and Sakura? What will happen? Calm down Tenten, just relax and act like he's nothing more than a team member._

Meanwhile, Sakura stood outside remembering how Tenten's face fell when she heard Neji's name. _I thought they were lovers? Why would she not like being with Neji?_ But Sakura eventually figured, it must be because their relationship wouldn't work out.

"What's up with Tenten? Did her and Neji get into a fight or something?" asked Sasuke, clueless.

"I don't know…probably." Sakura lied quickly. Sasuke stared at her for a while, but decided to drop the topic.

Tenten opened the door and stepped out to walk with Sakura and Sasuke to Neji's house. The three young ninjas were talking about what the mission might be. Sakura knew she was probably going with them to be their medic-nin.

When they reached Neji's house, Sasuke was the first to walk up to his door. Sasuke banged on his door as loud as he could, "NEJI! GET OUT HERE! WE'RE GOING ON A MISSION!"

Neji, looking fairly calm, stepped outside and looked at Sasuke, "Ok, let's go." He quickly noticed Tenten and blushed. "Good morning, Haruno Sakura, Tenten." He said nodding at each one of them.

"Good morning," the two girls said in unison.

Tenten and Sakura started walking together, ahead of the boys. Sakura was wondering whether she should tell Tenten. "Tenten…" Sakura started.

"Hn?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"Promise you won't murder me?"

Tenten giggled, "Sakura, I'm not THAT vicious!"

Sakura tried to smile and said, "Well, last night, I was out looking for my forhead protector in the forest-" _Oh shoot, I forgot all about that, I have to search for it as soon as I get back from this mission._

"Oh, did you find it?"

Sakura frowned, "Well no, but I saw two people and it startled me so I hid behind a bush. And um…those people were…you and Neji…and I kind of heard everythi-"

"Oh no!" Tenten suddenly stopped and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Promise me you won't tell anyone else about our relationship! PLEASE!!"

Sakura looked straight into Tenten's eyes, "Tenten don't worry. I won't tell anyone, not even Ino. Your secret is safe with me."

Tenten let go of Sakura's arm and they began to walk again. And Sakura spoke out, "I'm really sorry that your relationship with Neji can't work out."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. And we should never have had a relationship anyways, because we both knew it was forbidden."

Sakura could see Tenten was very hurt and dropped the topic, they talked about other things such as going out to lunch sometime or seeing a movie, in an attempt to cheer Tenten up.

Meanwhile, behind them were Neji and Sasuke in their own conversation. Sasuke was too impatient to make small talk, so he just went straight to the topic of Tenten.

"So, Tenten's pretty cute isn't she?"

Neji glared at him, "I don't think she's interested in guys like you," he said coldly.

_So Neji likes Tenten, _Sasuke thought.

"So what's up with you and her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When me and Sakura went to pick her up, she said your name, and she looked really sad."

Neji shrugged. "How should I know?"

After a few minutes of trying to pry it out of him, he finally realized he could not get it out of Neji. _I'll talk to him about it later, _thought Sasuke.

The four shinobi reached the Hokage's building. They walked up to Tsunade's office and were escorted into her room by a muscular body guard. He was dressed in a black tuxedo.

The four of them bowed in respect to the Hokage. "Good morning, Tsunade-sama," they all said in unison.

Tsunade, pleased with their respect, replied with a simple, "Good morning."

She began to explain their mission, "Due to the lack of adult shinobi available at the moment, I'm sending you guys on an A-Rank mission. You are to go into the Bird Country and exterminate another ghost."

_WHAT? ANOTHER GHOST EXTERMINATION MISSION IN THE BIRD COUNTRY? That last mission was annoying._

Nevertheless, the four of them had to accept.

"Good! You will begin the mission early tomorrow! Good luck!" Tsunade-sama exclaimed.


	3. Dreams of the Future

**A/N: Chapter 3! Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!) Thanks a bunch!**

Chapter 3

The next morning, Neji, Tenten, Sakura, and Sasuke all got together and set out for their mission. They all knew it would take at least 2 days to get to the Bird Country on foot. The four shinobi were walking with Neji and Sasuke in the front, and Sakura and Tenten behind them.

Throughout the whole day, Sasuke kept bugging Neji about Tenten. "Do you like her or not, Neji? Don't ignore me because I will eventually find out." Neji ignored him for a really long time. Neji wouldn't break and tell him, not until Neji felt like it.

Sakura talked to Tenten, but Sakura was a bit more sensitive about the topic of their relationship. After a few minutes of small talk, Sakura asked, "Are you feeling better about Neji?" Tenten just kept walking, looking at the ground.

After a while, she said, "Yes, I am, thank you for your concern, Sakura." _I guess I'm feeling a little better, but I still can't imagine Neji with another woman. It'll eventually happen, so I should just get used to not having Neji around._

Sakura noticed Tenten was still not completely ok. _I wonder how Neji feels about all of this. I wonder if he feels as crushed as Tenten feels. Should I talk to Sasuke about this? NO SAKURA! You promised Tenten you wouldn't tell anyone!_

After one full day of walking and still not reaching the Bird Country, they chose a spot to sleep. They had brought 2 tents, one for Tenten and Sakura, and another for Sasuke and Neji. Sakura knew it was wrong, but she wanted to give Neji and Tentens' relationship a push.

"Sasuke! Don't just stand there staring at the ground! Be a man and help me set up our tent!" Sakura complained. She was laughing inside her head. _Hahaha, as long as I force Sasuke into sleeping in the same tent as me, Neji and Tenten will have to share a tent._

Sasuke thought she was kidding at first but then soon realized she was dead serious. "What are you talking about?? I thought me and Neji were going to share a ten-" but before he could finish what he was saying, Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the tent she was working on.

Sasuke looked at her wondering what Sakura was doing. _Does she still like me? I thought we were just friends now._ Sasuke swiped her hand off his arm and said, "What's the big idea? Why are we sharing a tent?"

Sakura grinned mischieviously. She sure hoped that her plan would work. "No time to explain now, I'll explain it to you when we get inside the tent, now help me set this thing up!" she said in a low voice, making sure Neji and Tenten didn't hear.

Althought Neji and Tenten couldn't hear her, they stared at Sakura and Sasuke wondering what they were up to. Tenten thought, _what in the world is Sakura doing? Is she trying to push our relationship?_ Neji thought this was Sasuke's idea because he had been bugging Neji so much during the walk here.

_Oh well, it's not a bad thing that I get to sleep in the same tent as Tenten…_thought Neji. "So, let's get our tent set up, shall we?" said Tenten cheerfully. Secretly, Tenten was really happy that she was going to spend the night with Neji.

The four of them set up their tents. Inside Sasuke and Sakura's cabin, Sakura was busy explaining about Neji and Tenten. She knew that she had broken a promise to Tenten, who had trusted her, but she just couldn't help it.

Neji and Tenten were inside their tent. They were both sitting, Tenten looking at the ground, Neji looking at her. Neji couldn't take it, why wasn't she looking at him?

"Tenten."

"Hn?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No."

"Don't lie."

"I'm…not….really, I'm no-"

"Stop!"

"Well, it's just, I've been really troubled these days thinking about how our relationship will never work out."

"Are you sure that's all, you've always known this, why are you so sunddenly sad about it now?"

Tenten looked back at the floor before answering, "Well, it just occurred to me that one day we're going to get married, have our own separate families, and lead our own lives."

"Baka!"

"Neji! Don't you even worry about these things?"

"No, because if I can't get married to you, I refuse to spend my life with any other woman. And if I do get married to someone else, I'll kill myself before she urges me to give her a kid."

"Oh Neji…" it was somewhat of a relief to Tenten knowing that Neji didn't love anyone else but her, but she would never want Neji to die.

Before Tenten could think of anything else, she found herself being kissed by Neji.

His hand dropped around her waist as she kissed his cheek. "I want you, Neji," she smirked, as he turned his head to receive her kiss. He gently pulled her towards him, capturing her in a fierce kiss. A few moments passed by as their tongues continued to wrestle against each other until, finally, they were out of breath.

Tenten looked down and blushed. She yawned, "I'm sleepy Neji, I'm gonna go to bed now, ok?"

Neji looked at her, his eyes said, _way to ruin the fun, Tenten._

Tenten caught this message he sent with his eyes.

"Ok, I'll stay up a little longer with you, but just a little," Tenten said.

She honestly was a bit sleepy, so she rested her head against Neji's chest.

"Neji, tell me a story."

Neji smirked, "A story? How old are you, four?"

"Tell me about yourself."

Neji frowned. She knew perfectly well that his dad died, and that he wasn't the main branch of the Hyuuga family. "Ok."

Neji told her about his family's history and how Hinata's dad was born a few minutes before his own dad and how that affected his whole life.

Tenten knew this story very well, she only asked him because she wanted to hear his beautiful voice.

Tenten was getting really sleepy, Neji's voice lulling her to sleep. She feel asleep, her head in Neji's lap. Neji looked now at the sleeping girl he was in love with and smiled. He took out the buns in her hair because he knew it would get horribly tangled if she slept with her hair up. Neji picked her up and set her down in her sleeping bag, and he went into his own sleeping bag, and they both dozed off dreaming of how great it would be if they had a future together.


	4. I Need You

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!) Thanks a bunch!**

Chapter 4

Tenten woke up to find herself on her sleeping bag. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. _What's….going on? I thought I fell asleep with Neji._

She turned to her right to find Neji watching her. She jumped.

"What are you doing watching me?!" Tenten yelled.

Neji grinned, "I couldn't help it, you're so cute when you're sleeping."

Tenten threw her pillow at him. She put her hair up.

"LET'S GO!" Sakura yelled at their tent. Apparently, Sasuke and Sakura had been waiting quite a while.

"Sorry," Neji and Tenten apologized.

They packed up and started walking again.

"So, how was your night with Neji?" Sakura asked Tenten grinning.

"You're so devious Sakura, but it wasn't bad."

"Did you end up making out with Neji?"

Tenten blushed, but didn't answer.

Meanwhile, Sasuke asked Neji the exact same question.

"How was spending the night with Tenten, did you guys make out?"

Neji shrugged, "It was alright."

Out of the trees surrounding them, about 10 ninjas dressed in black ambushed them. They were about to attack. Sasuke and Neji looked at eachother and nodded. Tenten and Sakura didn't help much, but Tenten hit a lot of the ninjas with her great aim. Sasuke and Neji did most of the work.

Ten more ninjas showed up, but they were really tough. They were really advanced and were instructed to kill the four young ninjas from Konoha. While Neji, Sasuke, and Sakura's backs were all turned, one of the ninja snuck up behind Tenten and grabbed her. Tenten screamed, but the guy was quick and took her with him into the forest.

When the others had seen what had happened, they tried to follow Tenten but they were already having trouble with the other ninjas. Eventually, they killed all of the strange ninjas and followed Tenten. Neji used Byakuugan to follow them.

The ninja and Tenten stopped at a cliff, clearly waiting for Neji and the others. He had a kunai help up against her throat and held her tightly.

"If you don't want her to die, you three shall have to die in her place!" the ninja said.

"NOO!" screamed Tenten, "Don't!! I'm not worth it!! Go complete the mission and forget about me!!"

Forget about me. These words rang in Neji's ear. What was she thinking? Did she honestly think Neji would forget about her?

Neji looked back and Sasuke and Sakura, "You guys, go to the Bird Country, me and Tenten will catch up, I promise."

Sasuke and Sakura were reluctant, but Sasuke said, "Let's go Sakura."

"Bu-" Sakura started.

"Let's GO!" repeated Sasuke. Sakura nodded and they left, leaving Neji, Tenten, and the ninja.

"Let her go and kill me instead, " Neji said.

"What?! NOOO, NOOO NEJI! Don't do this!!!!" Tenten was crying, but Neji didn't even look at her.

The ninja grinned and let go of Tenten. He started going toward Neji holding up the Kunai. The ninja underestimated Neji because he was a kid, he didn't know of Neji's great abilities.

Neji used Juuken and that badly injured the ninja. The ninja wanted to be useful to his boss and kill at least one person, and so he went for Tenten, knowing she was weaker.

The ninja grinned at her, "Time to say goodbye to your little boyfriend."

He shot about 100 needles at her all at once. These needles had poison at the tips of them, enough to kill her if she didn't immediately get treatment.

_So it all ends this way. I'm going to die like this, _thought Tenten.

Seeing what the ninja was doing, Neji got in front of Tenten to defend her and took all the hits. All 100 needles struck Neji and he collapsed.

"NO NEJI!" Tenten wailed. She held his limp body and cried, "You can't die. Think about me. I can't live without you." Neji smiled at her.

"I….love…you…" Neji uttered with his last few breaths, and his eyelids closed. And his body, empty of life.

Seeing Neji die like this in front of her eyes was too much for her. Tenten looked up at the ninja and screamed at him, "I'll never forgive you for this!!" She grabbed several Kunai out of her bag and threw all of them at him with all her might. She didn't miss a single time, and the ninja died, already weakened by Neji.

She cried over Neji's body for a long time.

"Neji, you said you loved me. Why did you die? You know I can't live without you…" she said to Neji's body. "I love you too."

With this, Tenten took a Kunai and pointed it at her heart. She decided she would die here and now for Neji, there was no point of living without him alive.


	5. You Can't Die

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!) Thanks a bunch!**

Chapter 5

Tenten took the Kunai and thrust it at her heart. Before it could hit her body, another kunai was shot at it and it feel out of Tenten's hand. Sasuke had shot the kunai out of Tenten's hand.

Tenten looked over to see Sasuke and Sakura standing to her left.

"Sasuke! Why? I want to die! I want to be with Neji! I can't live anymore!" Tenten screamed.

Sakura ran over to where Tenten was kneeling by Neji.

"It's ok Tenten, I'm Tsunade-sama's apprentice remember? I can take the poison from Neji's body. He will still be a little injured, but he won't die." Sakura comforted her.

Tenten cried into Sakura's shoulder.

"Thank…you…" Tenten said in between sobs.

Sakura's hands glowed as she skillfully removed the poison from Neji's body with her excellent chakra control.

"Neji…?" Tenten said softly, putting her hand on his cheek.

After a few seconds, Neji slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't see properly at first, but he blinked a few times and his vision of Tenten became clear.

"T-t-ten…ten..?" Neji uttered weakly.

"NEJI!!!" Tenten screamed.

She hugged his weak body lying on the ground and cried. She didn't want to let him go, she needed confirmation that Neji was really alive.

Neji smiled weakly. He loved the feeling of Tenten's body embracing his. As much as he anjoyed the moment, he still fent pain from the needles shot all over his body.

"Ow, ow, Tenten that hurts." Neji said.

Tenten looked at him and apologized.

She giggled, "Oops, sorry." And blushed.

Sakura remembered when her and Sasuke were in the Land of the Mist and she had thought Sasuke was dead. The moment Tenten and Neji shared was almost exactly the same as her and Sasuke's, except for the fact that Sasuke only thought of her as a team member.

Sasuke lifted Neji onto his back.

"Let's go back to Konoha," Sasuke ordered.

Tenten and Sakura looked at him, confused.

"What about the mission?" Sakura asked.

"Forget about the mission, right now, we have to get Neji to the hospital. One failed mission won't kill us." Sasuke said.

Tenten and Sakura nodded and the 3 of them started off to Konoha, Neji on Sasuke's back.

They were hopping from branch to branch, hurrying to get to Konoha as fast as they could.

While Sasuke and Neji were way ahead of Sakura and Tenten, Sakura asked Tenten, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, arigato Sakura-san." Tenten smiled at Sakura with great gratitude.

"You're welcome, Tenten. Oh yeah…and uh, sorry about last night."

"Hn?"

"Leaving you and Neji alone in the same tent."

"Oh that. It's fine, it was nice to be with Neji. It took my mind off things, so again, arigato Sakura-san."

The girls smiled at eachother as they caught up to Sasuke, and the shinobi rushed to Konoha.

When the ninjas got there they ran to the hospital. Sakura explained to the nurse what had happened to Neji. The nurse gave Neji a room and Sasuke laid him on the white cot.

The nurse told them to come back later because she had to check on Neji's condition right now.

The four of them nodded and Sasuke told Tenten and Sakura that he would inform the Hokage that the mission was a failure.

Sakura and Tenten agreed, and the three of them left the hospital.

Sakura looked and Tenten and said, "Why don't we get some ramen? My treat!"

Tenten smiled and Sakura's generosity, but declined the offer. "I have something I want to do. But thank you for the offer."

Sakura smiled and bowed. "I'll see you later. Me, you, and Sasuke can visit Neji tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok, sure!" Tenten also smiled and bowed. The two girls split up, going separate ways. Sakura was going to the forest she had seen Neji and Tenten in two days ago to look for her forehead protector, while Tenten was heading over to Ino's flower shop.

Tenten walked into the flower shop and Ino greeted her. "Oh hi Tenten! Looking to buy some flowers?"

Tenten smiled, "Yeah." Tenten browsed through the flowers, and finally selected a large boquet full of gentle colors such as baby pink and light yellow.

She went up to the counter and brought the flowers to Ino.

Ino smiled saying, "This is a pretty bouquet, let me ring this up for you."

Ino checked the price tag. Her eyes widened, "11,864.05??? WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY MOTHER? WHAT'S SHE THINKING?? WHO WOULD PAY THAT MUCH FOR A STUPID BOUQUET??"

Tenten watched her, that bouquet was pricey. But it was beautiful and Neji deserved the best, he had, after all saved her life.

Ino was about to walk to the back of the shop and yell at her mother, but Tenten stopped her.

"Ino, don't. I have money and I want that bouquet." Tenten put on a smile and emptied out her wallet. She had saved up a lot of money to buy some new clothes and ninja equipment, but she decided she didn't absolutely NEED those things, so she decided to spend her money on the flowers.

Ino stared at the money Tenten emptied out. "Tenten, you shouldn't be paying this mu-"

Tenten signaled for her to stop talking. "It's fine Ino. It's for someone very special to me. I don't mind spending a little money on flowers." Tenten smiled very sweetly and Ino gave up.

"Ok, whatever you say." Ino gave the bouquet to Tenten and accepted the money which was the exact amount. "Are you sure?"

Tenten nodded.

Ino smiled, "Ok, here you go then! Have a nice day!"

Tenten thanked her and ran off to the hospital to see Neji.

When she got there, she asked the nurse If she could see Neji.

The nurse paused. "Well, you can stay by him, but please do not disturb him, he needs a lot of rest. The poison in his body ate away and damaged a lot of his internal organs. Luckily your friend took the poison out of his body before it could completely destroy him. But don't worry, if he agrees, the Hokage can perform surgery on him." The nurse smiled and escorted her into Neji's room.

Neji was laying in bed, eyes closed, the top half of his body bandaged. His body was badly cut up from all the needles. The nurse nodded, indicating that it was ok for Tenten to go over to Neji.

"I'll leave you two alone now." The nurse said and closed the door.

Neji and Tenten were once again alone together.


	6. I Won't Die

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! (Please review/comment!) Thanks a bunch!**

_**Review:**__Neji was laying in bed, eyes closed, the top half of his body bandaged. His body was badly cut up from all the needles. The nurse nodded, indicating that it was ok for Tenten to go over to Neji._

"_I'll leave you two alone now." The nurse said and closed the door._

_Neji and Tenten were once again alone together._

Chapter 6

Tenten stared at Neji.

She put her hand on his face.

"Neji," she whispered. "Are you alright?"

Neji didn't answer or open his eyes, he was too weak.

Tenten put the bouquet she had bought for him on the table next to his bed.

"I hope you like these," she whispered.

Neji didn't have enough strength to open his eyes or anything, he just rested there on his bed the whole day.

Tenten patiently waited and held his hand the whole day, but she got sleepy from the silence at around 7 PM and fell asleep.

She was sitting on a chair next to Neji's bed, her body and head rested on Neji's chest, and her hand still laced together with Neji's hand. The feel of Neji's body gave her comfort, and she feel asleep with good dreams. 

The next morning Neji woke up a bit early.

_Why is it so hard to breath?_

Neji looked down at his body and realized Tenten was resting on him. He found his hand laced together with hers. He also looked to the left side of his head and found the beautiful bouquet. Tenten had forgot to take off the price tag. Neji glanced at it.

_She paid that much money just for some flowers for me??!_

Tenten woke up and found Neji awake staring at the flowers, "NEJI!" she said hugging him.

Neji watched Tenten and said, "You paid that much money for a bouquet?"

"Of course, it's for you!"

"Baka."

"Well if you don't like them, I'll take them back."

"It's not that I don't like them. It's just…you are so foolish to spend that much money on little things."

"But they're for you, and you saved my life. I was going to use the money to buy new clothes and some new equipment, but I decided to spend it on you because...I love you…"

Neji stared at her. He wanted to kiss her but he was too weak to.

As if reading his mind, Tenten leaned over and wrapped her lips around his. Neji kissed her back with most of the strength he had left.

_Note to self, buy Tenten a new outfit and some new equipment to repay her for the flowers._

Tenten pulled back and sat back down in her chair.

"Thanks Tenten," Neji told her, "I love you too."

Sasuke and Sakura opened the door to the room they were in.

"You're sure here early," Sakura said to Tenten.

Tenten blushed, "Uh yeah, I woke up pretty early."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at the bouquet on the table for Neji.

Sakura picked it up, "Oh Tenten, did you buy these for Ne-"

Sakura stopped when she saw the price tag. "ELEVEN THOUSAND Y-"

Sasuke quickly put his hand over Sakura's mouth, "We're in a hospital Sakura."

"Sorry." Sakura quickly apologized.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and asked Neji about his condition.

"I'll have to have surgery."

Sasuke tried to cheer him up, "Well, surgery won't kill you, it'll just help you heal faste-"

"There's a 60 chance that I'll die." Neji said coldly.

Tenten gasped. The nurse hadn't mentioned this.

"What?!" She asked Neji, horrified.

"Don't worry, it can't be helped. If I don't get surgery, I'll never get out of this room until someone carries me, but I don't want to end up like Ranmaru."

Tenten remembered that mission when they met Ranmaru (a crippled little boy), but Sasuke and Sakura were clueless.

The room was silent, but Tenten had to ask when the surgery was.

"When are you going to have surgery?"

"The day after tomorrow."

Tenten was terrified. SIXTY percent chance of death.

That was too big a risk for her to handle.

She had almost killed herself when she thought Neji had died, what would she do if she woke up just to be informed that her lover had died from surgery?

Tenten started weeping.

She put her head up against Neji's chest again and cried into it.

_Another note to self, stay alive for Tenten. If I don't, she'll no doubt end up poisoning herself._

"Tenten," Neji said with authority.

"Hn?" Tenten said without emotion, looking up into his beautiful white eyes.

"I will stay alive no matter what for you. I promise."


	7. Panda Girl

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Enjoy! Thanks to WhiteBird95, Mimiao, and nejitenrocks for reviewing! Please comment/review, and enjoy! **

_**Review:**_"Tenten," Neji said with authority.

"Hn?" Tenten said without emotion, looking up into his beautiful white eyes.

"I will stay alive no matter what for you. I promise."

Chapter 7

The words replayed over and over inside her head to give Tenten consolement. _Ok Tenten, no need to worry, Neji will stay alive no matter what. He PROMISED._ She was very grateful in the fact that Neji always tried to comfort her, and most of the time, it was successful.

"Arigato, Neji-kun," Tenten said with a smile.

Neji didn't reply, but instead closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Normally, Tenten would've punched him and told him to show more respect to a girl, but knowing how weak Neji's body was, she concluded that she should just let him recover. _Poor Neji, he must be hiding a lot of physical pain from us._

"Tenten-san, would you like to come over to my house? My parents are gone on a business trip, so I have the whole house to myself!" Sakura said with a small grin on her face.

Tenten would've really loved to spend time with Sakura, but she felt that she should take every opportunity to stay with Neji incase his surgery turned out to be a failure.

Tenten smiled warmly at Sakura, "Sakura-chan, I appreciate it very much, but I think I'm going to stay here for now."

Sakura giggled sweetly, understanding that she wanted to stay by Neji's side. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's arm and motioned for them to leave them alone.

"We should get going now," said Sasuke coolly.

"Yes, I'll see you guys later!" Sakura waved goodbye.

Sasuke nodded to say goodbye to Tenten, Neji was still asleep.

The door of the room closed.

Tenten stared at Neji. She hadn't been in the hospital next to Neji in a long time. The last time was when Neji had returned from the mission of following Sasuke, she remembered Choji had also been seriously hurt. Neji came back to Konoha unconcious due to loss of blood, and Tenten had been sitting by his bed in the hospital, making sure he was ok. When Neji woke up after some treatment, he had realized Tenten had been very patient and was really worried about him. He was very grateful, but didn't say anything.

Neji's face suddenly became filled with pain. He seemed to be having very troubling thoughts on his mind. Tenten noticed this and wondered what was wrong with Neji. _Is it physical pain or mental pain?_

"Dad…no…don't go…" Neji mumbled his face full of sadness. Neji rolled over onto his side, his front side now parallel to Tenten.

_He must be dreaming about his dad leaving to be killed instead of Hyuuga Hiashi._

Tenten couldn't imagine what her life would be like if she had such a painful childhood like Neji. Tenten was just an average kunoichi, her parents were both alive, and she wasn't a prodigy. She was very skilled with weapons, but she was weaker than many other ninjas her rank. Most of the ninjas with horrible childhoods were very strong and had huge determination, not only Neji, but other ninjas such as Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Naruto. Tenten strived to be like the Hokage, but she had a long way to go.

Her attention turned back to Neji, who was sweating profusely.

For a minute, Tenten panicked, Neji looked like he was in real pain. _What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!?_ Tenten sprinted into the girls bathroom, knocking a few nurses over on the way. "Sorry!" Tenten called.

Once she was safely in the bathroom, she took a paper towel and drenched it in cold water from the sink. She ran back to Neji's room carefully this time, which wasn't too necessary because there was only one nurse walking in the hallway this time.

She walked into the room and laid the towel on Neji's head. Neji's tense shoulders relaxed a bit. His breathing wasn't as heavy. Tenten watched him, her eyes full of concern.

Tenten slouched in her chair next to Neji's bed.

_Whew, that was a close one._

Tenten suddenly tensed up when she felt something cold on her hand. Luckily, she didn't scream out loud, which would've probably woken Neji. She looked down at what was grasping her hand.

It was Neji's hand, holding her own. His hands were very cold.

_That's strange, he's not awake, but he felt my hand and wrapped his around mine._

Tenten took her other hand and also wrapped it around Neji's hand, now having both hands holding Neji's. She gently rubbed his hand back and forth between her hands in an attempt to warm him up.

After five minutes, she lowered their hands and took one of her hands away, but still keeping one hand holding Neji's.

_Neji, please be ok. Don't die in surgery…_

Tenten fell asleep, sitting upright in her chair. Neji continued to sleep too. They both slept, Tenten dreaming of being a beautiful, wealthy princess, and Neji taking her hand in marriage. Neji on the other hand, was having a very strange, but vivid dream.

His father was still alive in his dream, and Neji still a young boy. They were surrounded by a white fog, not an eerie one, but a calm relaxing one, as if they were surrounded by clouds. His father and him were drinking green tea togther and laughing and having a good time. He looked into the distance and saw something…or rather…some_one._

He strained his eyes to see clearly, he was almost positive it was a living creature. This thing had two ball-shaped things on the top of its head. _Is it a panda bear, _young Neji thought. Neji activated his Byakuugan, he saw the chakra flowing through this thing's chakra system.

He was pretty sure it was a person. Neji deactivated his Byakuugan and stared at it. It saw Neji looking at it and backed away deeper into the clouds. Neji turned his attention back to his dad, but his dad was walking away slowly. His dad turned his head to have one last look at young Neji and smiled, "Goodbye my son," and with that, his body faded away into the fog. Neji ran after his dad desparately, "Daddy!!! Where did you go?! Come back!!" After continually failing to reach his dad, Neji collapsed on his knees, head facing down, and started sobbing quietly to himself.

The person he had seen earlier that he thought might've been a panda, slowly walked towards him cautiously. It was a girl around his age. She walked closer and closer to him from behind and once she was directly behind him, she knelt next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok," she said. Young Neji looked up at the female who had said that.

She was a beautiful young little girl. She had two brown buns at the top of her head that he had mistook for panda ears. She had milk chocolate eyes, and she had a sweet smile.

He blushed at this girl. His mouth formed a small smile, so small she had to strain to see that he was smiling, and under his breath said, "Arigato…panda girl…"

**A/N: Please review! **


	8. Dango

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Please comment/review! Enjoy! **

_**Review:**_The person he had seen earlier that he thought might've been a panda, slowly walked towards him cautiously. It was a girl around his age. She walked closer and closer to him from behind and once she was directly behind him, she knelt next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok," she said. Young Neji looked up at the female who had said that.

She was a beautiful young little girl. She had two brown buns at the top of her head that he had mistook for panda ears. She had milk chocolate eyes, and she had a sweet smile.

He blushed at this girl. His mouth formed a small smile, so small she had to strain to see that he was smiling, and under his breath said, "Arigato…panda girl…"

Chapter 8

Neji had had this dream several times throughout his life ever since his father died. He also remembered the first day he laid eyes on Tenten at the academy.

_FLASHBACK_

_A 13-year-old Tenten walked into the Konoha Ninja Academy with dark blue capris and a baby pink shirt. Her hair was neatly tied up into her signature twin buns. She walked into the classroom. She was either late, or everyone was extra early for the first day of school. She looked at the clock, nope, everyone was early. The first empty seat she could find was next to a boy her age. He had long brown hair tied into a loose ponytail and he was clad in a tan jacket and very dark blue shorts._

_She shyly walked over next to his seat and asked quietly, "Excuse me, may I sit here?"_

_Neji looked the direction of where the sweet voice came from. His eyes widened slightly when he saw her. _

_**Those eyes…that hair…she looks just like…**__thought Neji._

_Neji nodded and Tenten sat down next to him. He could smell her sweet scent of apple perfume drifting from her body._

_When Neji wasn't looking, Tenten stole a few glances at Neji, looking particularly at his eyes. She was fascinated by how white and pure they were. She was intrigued with him. His face showed no emotion whatsoever._

_**This is someone I should keep my eye on…**__thought Tenten._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

A ray of light shined in Neji's face which disturbed him, forcing him to open his eyes.

_Morning already?_

Neji immediately noticed something, his hands were once again cold. He remembered how good they felt when they had been so warm throughout the whole night. He looked around.

_Where's Tenten?_

Right after he thought that, Tenten walked in the door with a brown paper bag in her hand. She looked at Neji and smiled.

"So you finally woke up, good morning Neji-kun."

Neji grunted.

"What time is it Tenten?"

"12:30."

Neji groaned. And then he asked where she had gone.

"I went to buy these for you…" she said lifting the brown paper bag in her hands.

Neji smirked, "Don't tell me you bought me more of those overpriced flowers."

Tenten frowned, "No silly. I bought you some dango. I figured you must be hungry since the hospital only feeds you congee once in the morning and once in the evening."

Neji smiled. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he had eaten. He usually rejected the food when the nurses tried to get him to eat because he was too sleepy, but if Tenten got out of her way to buy something for him to eat, he would swallow every single bite by all means.

Tenten walked over to his bedside. She had changed. She was wearing a white blouse, and a pair of black capris, but her hair was nevertheless still in two neat buns.

This time, instead of sitting on the chair next to Neji's bed, she actually sat down on the side of his bed, but her feet remained on the hospital floor. She took the dango out of the paper bag, they were colorful and there were 3 to a skewer. She had bought him 3 skewers of dango.

She held one of the dango skewers out to him for him to hold it. Neji tried to move his arms, but couldn't, they were stiff from not being used in a long time. Tenten watched his arms twitch as they struggled. Tenten put her hand on his arm and shook her head at him. He stopped struggling.

"I'll feed you."

"Uh, no it's ok…you don't have to…"

"Don't be silly, I'm not gonna let you starve to death!"

"Tenten, no really, it's fi…blahrhaghlphs" (A/N: lol)

Before Neji could refuse, Tenten shoved the dango into his mouth. Neji nearly choked from the surprise attack.

Tenten giggled, "Haha, I win."

Neji just continued to chew his dango. After he swallowed all of the miniature balls of sweetness, he looked straight at Tenten.

"Tenten, I don't really enjoy sweets."

Tenten looked so confused, "But I remember I saw you gulping down a huge chocolate milkshake once…or wait…was that Naruto…?"

"You mistook me for Naruto??"

"Well, dango was the cheapest thing I could find that I thought would satisfy you. I spent all of my money on those flowers, remember?"

_Another note to self, treat Tenten to a meal to repay her, _thought Neji. He decided to keep a list of things he needed to do to repay her. He didn't want to be the cause of all her money going down the drain.

Neji smiled, but then suddenly dropped his skewer and clutched his heart in pain. His body was twitching furiously and his eyes were squeezed tight.

Tenten had no idea what was wrong. She ran to go get a nurse. The nurse panicked and went out to go get help. After a few minutes, the Hokage walked in and said, "We will have to begin the surgery early. Tenten please step outside. We will inform you as soon as we are finished of what the outcome is.

Tenten took one last look at Neji, he was in serious pain and she didn't want to get in the way. She nodded and walked out of the room. Tenten took a seat at the nearest bench and waited. _How long will this take?_

Meanwhile, inside the room, Tsunade-sama had a serious look on her face.

"Let's do this," she said to the other medical ninjas in the room.

**A/N: Please review! **


	9. Boys

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Please comment/review! Enjoy! **

_**Review:**_Tenten took one last look at Neji, he was in serious pain and she didn't want to get in the way. She nodded and walked out of the room. Tenten took a seat at the nearest bench and waited. _How long will this take?_

Meanwhile, inside the room, Tsunade-sama had a serious look on her face.

"Let's do this," she said to the other medical ninjas in the room.

Chapter 9

The other medical ninjas nodded and they all got to work on Neji's body, doubled over in pain.

Tenten was waiting outside. Her eyes looking at the ground. _Stupid me, if I wasn't weak and didn't let that stupid ninja take me hostage in the first place, Neji wouldn't need surgery._

She heard footsteps. They were light ones, coming closer and closer to her. She looked up to see where the noise was coming from. She looked around and saw Lee walking towards her, he stood infront of her and greeted her.

"Hello Tenten-chan, may I sit here?" asked Lee with a smile.

Tenten said nothing, but scooted over to make room for Lee, indicating a yes.

Lee looked straight at her and said with a serious face, "I heard about Neji and decided to come over to this hospital and wait for him. After all, we three are a team, am I not correct?"

Tenten smiled, "You're right, but what if Neji…"

"Do not worry Tenten-chan, Neji will get through this using the power of his youth."

Tenten giggled a little, _typical Lee._

Tenten and Lee spent the next few hours sitting next to eachother and chatting, Tenten just listening and nodding, while Lee rambled on about youth, Gai sensei, and taijutsu,

After about 6 hours, Tsunade-sama finally came out and motioned for them to come in.

Tenten got up and walked as fast as she could into the room, while Lee slowly followed behind her.

Tenten say down on the chair next to Neji's bed and held his hand while Lee stood and watched. He had caught on to Neji and Tenten's feelings for eachother a long time ago, but kept that secret to himself.

_FLASHBACK_

_A few years ago, Tenten, Lee, and Neji were all training with Gai sensei deep into the forest. They were all exhausted. Gai sensei told them to go take a break. While Lee kept training, he watched Neji go one way and Tenten go another. He was curious as to where Neji was going, was he doing some secret training. If he was, Lee would want to watch as much as possible without Neji detecting him, so Lee followed Neji._

_As he was cautiously following Neji from behind, hiding behind bushes quietly, he heard the sound of a stream becoming louder and louder. Lee realized he was heading towards the stream nearby. He saw a female figure already there, and Neji approached her. Lee crouched behind a bush, watching every action._

"_Tenten, what did you want to tell me?" Neji asked in a quiet voice._

_Lee strained his ears to hear all the details._

"_I have to tell you that…I think I'm in love with you…" Tenten said quickly. She blushed furiously, and turned around to go back to the training ground. Neji stopped her from behind and put his arms around her waist and kissed the nape of her neck._

"_I love you too."_

_Lee was amazed. He ran back as silently as possible trying not to invade their privacy and decided to keep it a secret, for he respected Neji far too much to spread rumors about him._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"How is Neji doing?" Tenten asked a nurse nearby.

"He's fine, the surgery was a success. He should be able to start training by tomorrow morning."

"TOMORROW MORNING?!" Lee blurted. "How can Neji be able to start training by tomorrow morning? When I had surgery after fighting Gaara I had to wait at LEAST 3 days before I was permitted to train."

The nurse smiled, "I still remember your case. Neji has a bit of healing abilities which helps a lot, and Tsunade-sama has learned some new techniques since she last performed a surgery on you, and these new techniques are more effective, but some prove to be more dangerous. Does that explain it well enough?"

Lee nodded.

The nurse smiled and left the room.

"Is this not wonderful, Tenten-san? We can all start training again with Gai sensei tomorrow morning! I told you the power of youth would keep Neji alive!" Lee said with a huge smile on his face.

Tenten shook her head and giggled, "Sure Lee, whatever you say."

Neji slowly opened his eyes, "Tenten-san, Lee-san? Am I still alive?"

Tenten smiled, "Neji-kun! How are you feeling?"

Neji and Tenten were trying to be formal with eachother because they didn't want Lee knowing about their relationship, the last thing they wanted was Lee interfering in their love life. But little did they know, it was a little too late for that.

"I'm fine. The process was a little painful, but I'm fine now."

"Neji-san, would you like to accompany me and Tenten and come train with us tomorrow?" Lee asked brightly.

"That depends, what time are you guys starting at?"

"4:00 AM!"

Neji and Tenten's eyes both widened.

"Well, I'm kind of tired, I don't really uh…know if I can wake up by…4…" Neji said throwing Tenten a confused look. His eyes carried a message to her: _Why did you agree to train with Lee at 4 tomorrow?_

Tenten received this message and threw him back a look saying: _Uh, hello, I DIDN'T! Why would I do that?_

Both Tenten and Neji didn't want to train at 4.

Lee frowned and said, "Ok, I understand Neji. I just didn't think you'd be so weak that you wouldn't even be able to tr-"

"WHAT? Who are you calling weak? I'll be there tomorrow and so will Tenten."

Tenten shook her head, and looked at Neji, _way to go Neji, your arrogance just accepted a training session at the crack of dawn._

Neji smirked at her, _don't worry. Training early never hurt anyone. Besides, I'll show Lee that even though I just got through surgery, I'm still stronger than him._

Tenten rolled her eyes and shot one final message at him:

_Tch, boys._

**A/N: Please comment/review! **


	10. I Do

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters! Well, it all ends here. I barely got any reviews so I decided to end it. I'm going to start fresh with my next story.**

_**Review:**_Neji smirked at her, _don't worry. Training early never hurt anyone. Besides, I'll show Lee that even though I just got through surgery, I'm still stronger than him._

Tenten rolled her eyes and shot one final message at him:

_Tch, boys._

Chapter 10

_Beep, beep, beep! _Tenten's alarm clock rang. It was 3:30 AM, and still dark. Tenten was so tired. _I…can't…get…up. It's…way too early._ Tenten would've laid in bed forever if her alarm clock would just stop beeping.

_Beep, beep, beep! _Tenten lifted her hand from under her covers, clenched it in a fist, and brought it down hard on her alarm clock, smashing it to bits.

Her cat looked at her through the darkness. _What an owner, _thought the cat.

Tenten slowly sat up, her back ached. She got dressed in the darkness. She put her hair up, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She ran out the door with her ninja equipment in her sack tied around her waist and grabbed a granola bar on her way out. That would serve as her lunch. She would've made something more filling herself, but was too lazy. _Who cooks at 3:45 AM anyways, _thought Tenten.

Tenten ran to the forest where Neji and Lee would be. Once she was in the forest, Neji and Lee were kicking and punching a tree.

"How early did you guys wake up?" Tenten asked, panting to catch her breath.

Both Neji and Lee ignored her.

"HELLO!" Tenten raised her voice.

Neji and Lee looked over their shoulders.

"Tenten, a ninja should always be on time!" Lee preached.

Tenten frowned, "What are you talking about?! I AM ON TIME!!"

Lee raised his index finger like a professor, "But a good ninja should always be at least half an hour early!"

Tenten shook her head a little at Lee's strictness, "Lee, did you just make that up?"

"No Tenten-san, Gai sensei told us. It's in my notes," Lee said pulling out his little black notepad that he wrote notes in while Gai sensei lectured them.

Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Maybe if you spent a little more time listening and a little less time staring at Neji-san, you would remember," Lee shot at her.

Tenten blushed like mad. She clenched her fists. "What did you just say?" she said slowly, her tone was dangerous.

Neji was a bit ticked off too. Tenten was about to punch him, but a blast of chakra from Neji shot him aside.

Lee looked up from the ground glaring at Neji, "I will not lose to you! If I do, I shall punish myself and run 300 laps around Konoha!"

Tenten chuckled, _300 laps. Yeah right._

Neji ignored him and looked at Tenten, he gave Tenten another one of those eye messages. This time was different though, he was blushing slightly.

_I have to talk to you. Meet me by the stream tonight._

Tenten was confused, _um, ok._ She indicated.

What could Neji possibly want to talk to me about?

Their form of eye communication was very unique. Only they could understand it, and they had just learned to read eachother's feelings, thoughts, and emotions over the time they have spent together.

The three of them trained all day. At about lunch time, Tenten took out her granola bar, Neji took out a small lunch box of rice, and Lee took out a huge pot filled with some kind of red curry with rice. Neji and Tenten's eyes widened at the size of the lunch he had brought.

Tenten and Neji ate silently, but Lee ate very loudly. He gulped down all the rice and curry as fast as he could, chewing loudly, and making slurping noises. Tenten glanced at him a few times to try to tell him with her eyes that he was being disgusting, but it was no use. Her eye communication only worked with Neji.

When Lee had finished about half of the huge pot, he looked at Neji and Tenten who were already done with their lunches and asked through a mouth full of curry, "Do you guys want any?"

Neji and Tenten shook their heads vigorously. Lee shrugged and gulped the rest of the pot down in about 5 seconds.

"I think our training is done. I just remembered that I promised Gai sensei I would run some errands for him. My deepest apologies if I crushed your expectations. We can always hold another training session tomorrow morning, same time same place." Lee said.

Tenten immediately said, "No, that's not necessary. I have to go do some things too," she said getting up, "I'll see you guys some other time, bye!" and she walked off.

Lee and Neji shrugged and also walked away.

Neji did some shopping and that evening went to the stream him and Tenten often met.

He sat down, waiting for Tenten. A few minutes later, Tenten arrived and sat next to him.

"Did you want to talk to me Neji?" Tenten asked curiously.

Neji couldn't believe his eyes, Tenten was drop dead gorgeous this particular night. Her hair was down in long waves, her wide eyes were beautiful in the moonlight, her lips were coated with a transparent gloss, she was wearing a silk lavender kimono with a few hand stitched flowers on the side. Her kimono parted on one side of the leg. Instead of her ninja sandals, she was wearing elegant, black high heels.

"What's the occasion?" asked Neji, awestruck.

"I could just see it in your eyes that there was something very important you had to tell me," Tenten simply replied.

Neji pulled a bag from behind a bush he bad brought and emptied its contents before Tenten. There lay a beautiful bouquet of flowers, even more beautiful than Tenten's bouquet, a pouch of brand new ninja equipment, two beautiful light blue and light pink kimonos, and a small lunch box of steaming sesame dumplings. Tenten's eyes widened and said, "What's all this for?"

"I had to pay you back for all the kindness you've shown me," Neji blushed a little, trying to keep a straight face.

Tenten smiled and looked straight at him. She put both arms around him and pulled him closer, and she didn't hesitate to kiss him. They gently kissed eachother and eventually molded into a liplock. Tenten's arms were around his shoulders, feeling the strong muscles he had developed, and Neji's arms were around her slender waist, Neji wondered if she had been starving herself waiting by Neji's bedside when he was in the hospital.

The scenery was perfect, cherry blossom petals were falling from their trees, making it look like it was snowing pink petals, and there was a full moon out, it's reflection shining from the glistening stream.

Neji gently pushed her away and looked at her very seriously. "Tenten, I have to tell you something."

Tenten looked dreamily at him, "Hn."

"Tenten, I'm from the Hyuuga clan, and the tradition is to not marry an average kunoichi. But I love you too much for that crap. My dad gave me determination to break free from the horrible customs, and I have decided to."

"Oh, that's very sweet of you Neji but what.." Neji silenced her, indicating he had more to say.

He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Tenten gasped, it was an elegant silver ring with a diamond on it. "Tenten, will you marry me?"

Tenten didn't know what to say. "Neji, how much did that cost? What about the Hyuuga traditions? What will happen if you break the ru.."

Neji silenced her once again.

"It doesn't matter because I love you. Even if they threaten to kill me, I don't care, I'll fight. So answer me Tenten, will you marry me?"

Tenten looked at him and whispered, "Yes, I do."

Neji held her hand and slid the ring on her slender finger. They embraced eachother and kissed, refusing to let go of the other.

They were lovers and no one, not even a whole clan, could keep them from loving eachother. That beautiful night by the stream in Konoha, Hyuuga Neji and Tenten didn't care who might've been watching them or listening, all they cared about was that they were happily in love and nothing could break their strong bond.

_-in Neji's mind-_

_The panda girl was still sitting next to Neji, trying to make him happy. Young Neji cried and said, "My father has died, I have no one to love, and no one to love me."_

_The panda girl shook her head, "That's not true. I'm here for you to love, and I love you."_

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading my story. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. I'm dying here.**


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